Safari Sunday (Day Two)

Lounging cheetah!

Masai Mara Safari: Day Two!

On Sunday morning we woke up around 8am and decided to go to a fancy "Bush Breakfast" that was hosted by one of the upscale lodges in the park. We were headed out of the campsite when we were stopped by a game warden again. Apparently there were some cheetahs spotted about 40 minutes away! Again, we all agreed that putting off breakfast for an hour was totally worth cheetah chasing, so we headed in the direction of the border with Tanzania.

Champagne, madam?!
Yes, please!

My luck held out and we were at the cheetahs before I even started to get hungry :) There were two brothers just lying in the long grass and morning sunshine. They seemed completely unfazed by the two or three cars that were gathered, and we were able to watch them relax, look around, and flick their tails for a while.

Our breakfast table!

Like the rest of the big cats, they seemed pretty content being stationary, and we were starting to hear each other's growling tummies, so we gave up on any action shots and went in search of breakfast. We drove back across the rolling plains and the thorny shrub land to the Mara River. On the bank the Serena Lodge had set up an amazing spread! We were greeted by a lovely gentleman with glasses of champagne and led to our table.

From our little breakfast spot, we had a view of the river and could sit and sip coffee while watching hippos and crocodiles...and we were also surrounded by skittering mongooses. They acted a lot like begging squirrels back home, and were bold enough to crawl right under the table while we were eating to pick up and dropped crumbs :)

Hippos sunbathing

Mongoose eyeing my bacon

It was a really cool breakfast, and almost completely worth the exorbitant (for Kenya) price of 2,500 shillings ($30). But we got champagne, omelets to order, bacon and sausage, fruit and juice, tons of different bread, muffins and rolls, yogurt, and coffee/tea - all with a fantastic view of the wildlife!! I thought it was the perfect start to the day, and before it was even very hot out we had seen cheetahs and sipped champagne on the banks of the river :)

Masai warriors at breakfast

Spear throwing lessons

After breakfast and posing for the obligatory pictures with the "Masai warriors" that were dishing out fruit and bacon, we headed to the Serena Lodge to pay our breakfast tab and check out the hotel. We drove up a huge hill from the river to get to the lodge, and the views from the top were spectacular! The lobby was completely open, U-shaped, and led to floor-to-vaulted-ceiling glass windows with a view of the park.

It was a really cool place, with a pool deck that you could watch the giraffes grazing from and a patio that gave such a perfect vantage of the rolling plains below. I was mesmerized by the epic expanse of the Mara/Serengeti and I vow that one day I'm going to book a room in that lodge and wake up to the view!

The view from the Serena Lodge

After we peeled ourself away from the lodge and it's breath taking patio, we took the long way back through the park and started making our way home. We were hoping to find some wildebeest crossing the river or doing something crazy....we trolled some spots that looked promising for them to swim across, but they are known to gather by the bank of the river and just wait for hours and hours before someone is brave enough to cross and lead the herd, so we didn't stick around for one of the wildebeest to take initiative.

Wildebeest on the move!

We found some pretty huge groups of them though, and drove through herds that seemed endless. At one point we came over a small hill and as far as you could see, there was a single file line of wildebeest just meandering towards the Tanzanian border. They must have stretched 5+ kilometers in an unbroken line of animals! A couple people on the trip had come to Masai Mara before but hadn't seen the wildebeest migrating like that, so even they were impressed.

The rest of the drive was more of the same (awesome). We drove through hundreds and thousands of wildebeest, zebras, giraffes, hyenas, a jackal, elephants, weird birds, hippos, warthogs, and various antelope (gazelles, topi, etc). I saw a snake, some cool lizards, baboons, other monkeys, and buffalo. I loved it, and with the top open, and the music turned up, and a few fun people, I could have driven through the animals and scenery forever!

Super cool lizard

Alas, we headed back to camp, packed up the tents, and started home. The drive wasn't too bad, I made peanut butter, banana and nutella sandwiches about halfway through, and we may have even snuck a bit of our boxed red wine...laws are pretty lenient here for that sort of thing. All together it was a great short safari trip! I loved being outdoors, being able to go camping, the fact that Alkesh had EVERYTHING we needed and I didn't have to think about anything. Just hopped in the car and got shuttled to a bunch of animals in a beautiful location. I would gladly do it again, and there are so many parks in Kenya, I probably will before I leave :)

The rest of my safari shots are here: https://kristynspictures.shutterfly.com/9973

Baby warthog!!

Mama elephant

Morning bush yoga :P

Baby elephants!!